LG Venus
Author: admin
Continuing the LG phone craze is the LG Venus VX8800. The LG Venus is a beautiful phone that showcases innovation in design, featuring a touch-screen dual screen, 2-megapixel camera and a lot more. Additionally, this smartphone is relatively cheaper as compared to other units in the market.
LG Venus is a sleek, slender phone measures 4.0 x 2.0 x 0.62 inches, offering comfort to users through its curved corners and leather covering on the back. LG Venus is easily comparable to the LG Prada, with the emergence of at first glance a 3-inch display, which is actually two separate screens: a regular QVGA display on top and a touch screen on bottom. The top primary display measures 2 inches and displays 262K colors. Texts and images are displayed brightly and legibly.
The lower screen measures 1.5 inches and serves as a navigation interface, displaying touch-sensitive navigation controls according to applications such as the menu button that offers shortcuts to message, calls and contacts, music player, camera and more.
Although the new navigation technique is an innovation on its own, a number of critiques have questioned its usability concerning the sensitivity of the touch screen, the use of the unlock button, among others. A number keypad, which includes Send, Clear and End/Power buttons, can be revealed by slide opening the LG Venus handset. The alternating colored-keys are well-spaced which made pressing easier. The left side of the LG Venus is where the volume control, voice recorder button, headset and charger jacks while the right side is where the microSD card slot, music player key and a camera key. The camera lens is on the back side.
While LG Venus’ design has enamored a number of users, the phone’s list of features is truly lovable as well. Among the phone capabilities include a 1,000-entry contacts list, vibrate mode, speakerphone, SMS, MMS, alarm clock, notepad, voice recorder and a lot more. The list of connectivity options showcases USB, e-mail, web browser, stereo Bluetooth. It also comes with 3G and built-in GPS.
An important multimedia feature that will never be absent in the Venus is the music player. The player has a simplistic and nice interface with easy-to-use controls. Users can easily sort songs according to artist, genre ot album and they can also create their own playlist which can be controlled via the shuffle and repeat options. Multitasking is also an important feature of the music player, allowing the player to continue even while doing other tasks such as text messaging and web browsing. Supported formats are MP3, WMA, AAC, and AAC+. With an internal memory of 64MB, users can add up an additional 8GB with the microSD card.
The camera phone can take pictures in four resolutions and offers settings for brightness and night mode. It also takes videos in two resolutions with editing options, although 30 seconds is only allowed for video recording. While the camera can take commendable pictures, the video is shaky, blurry clips. Such mediocrity aside, the LG Venus remains a beautiful slider phone.
read comments (0)HTC SMT5800
Author: admin
HTC SMT-5800 joins the group of smaller Windows Mobile smartphones. Its pocket-size feature was accomplished by making its mid-section narrow. The QVGA resolution screen’s size is maximized at 2.4 inches, but the navigation and separate numeric keys’ utility are affected.
It does manage to squeeze in a full sliding QWERTY keyboard to its 4.1 x 2 x 0.7 in inches measurement. It weighs a total of 4.2 ounces.
Texts and images are easily seen in its 65,536 color output screen with a 320 x 240 pixel. Though, the display can definitely seem washed out under bright sunlight.
The power key is on the left side together with the volume slider and a microSD slot that is without a cover. The SMT-5800’s right side contains the easy to locate and use camera button, while its bottom has the battery cover release. Tests have shown SMT-5800’s clear call quality and ability to sustain a signal. It has both EV-DO and 1xRTT connection. It also has standard voice communication features like smart dialing, speakerphone and voice command. It can have a talk-time of 3.5 hours.
Its EV-DO capability enables it to reach data speeds of 600Kbps which will be enough for smooth web browsing, downloading and streaming.The SMT-5800 uses Windows Mobile 6 edition. Its Outlook is synched with the contacts database, which can contain not only addresses and numbers but personal information like important dates and names as well. Owners not only have Microsoft Outlook mail at their disposal, they can also upload Google, AOL, Hotmail and Yahoo. They can also launch the Pocket Internet Explorer from its Start menu, but without a mini-map or RSS feed reader.
Like other Windows Mobile smartphones, owners can also view and use Adobe PDFs, Excel, PowerPoint and Word programs. Another plus to SMT-5800 is its Windows Media Player 10 Mobile that enables users to play AAC, MP3, MPEG-4, WAV, WMA and WMV files, as well as music and videos; and integrated Bluetooth 2.0. Add-ons are Bubblebreaker and Solitaire games. Bluetooth music streaming can drain this smartphone’s battery in a day, but limiting use to calls and web browsing can lengthen use up to 3 days.
This smartphone’s 2 megapixel camera feature can take still shots and videos fairly sharp from as far as 10 feet. You can make adjustments to ambience, capture, exposure, mode, size, timer and zoom settings, among others. It takes photos and videos well outdoors, but not as well indoors most likely due to the fact that it does not have a flash.
RIM Blackberry Curve 8330
Author: admin
An addition to the BlackBerry Curve series is the 8830, and it is released for Sprint and Verizon Wireless. This silver-colored smartphone boasts its 3G and EV-DO connectivity. There’s a sacrifice to pay though, since unlike the 8320, the 8330 lacks Wi-Fi. Setting this aside, BlackBerry Curve 8830 remains a promising gadget for corporate users and casual users alike.
The design of Sprint Curve 8330 is relatively similar with other Curve models, despite the fact that it is slightly thicker and heavier due to the inclusion of the 3G chip. It measures 4.2″ x 2.4″ x 0.6″ inches and weighs 4.2 ounces. The QWERTY keyboard and the 2.5-inch 65K color screen at a 320×240 pixel resolution are compacted in the gadget. It still includes the light-sensing technology that makes reading texts and images not a problem. It conditions the screen according to environmental conditions. Below the display are the controls for navigation: Talk and End buttons, Menu shortcut, back Button and trackball navigator.
The right portion of the BlackBerry Curve 8830 is where the volume control and a user-programmable shortcut key are placed, whereas the default option was camera activation. The left portion is where the mini-USB port, convenience key and 3.5 millimeter headphone jack.
The back side of the phone is where the 2-Megapixel camera and mirror lens are placed. The top side is where the mute button is. Accessing the microSD slot may be a painful one since it is located behind the battery. The lack of Wi-Fi doesn’t really appear to be a problem Curve 8330 because of the EV-DO that allows data speeds of around 300Kbps to 600Kbps which make surfing the Net via the mobile much faster.
Among the loads of features of the 8330, the GPS and 3G are its remarkable treats. The integrated GPS support Sprint Navigation, an add-on service that offers turn-by-turn text- and voice-guided directions complete with text-to-speech functionality, local search, traffic updates, and other navigation tools. The 3G, on the other hand, offers support in a vast array of multimedia services including Sprint TV and Sprint Music Store. Sprint TV’s channels include CNN and Comedy Central while the Sprint Music Store features live music streaming from MTV Mobile, VH1 Mobile and Sirius. Downloading is also possible with the Sprint Music Store at a little cost.
It’s imperative that Curve 8830’s multimedia capabilities include a built-in media player that can play music in MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, AMR-NB, and MIDI formats, and video in MPEG4, WMV, and H.263 formats. Multimedia files should be stored in a microSD card. The expansion slot can accept up to 8GB cards.
Voice, messaging and e-mail capabilities with 8330 just retain the earlier models and its performance remains to be at its best. Other connectivity options with 8330 is the Bluetooth possibly acting itself as modem for laptops.
RIM Blackberry Curve 8320
Author: admin
Continuing the tradition of the BlackBerry Curve series is the Curve 8320. The Curve, which started with the release of Curve 8300 in June 2007, has given birth to a new set of strong smartphones. Released by T-Mobile, the BlackBerry Curve 8320 merged up Wi-Fi and UMA with the other functions, setting a trend of standard in mobile technology.
The design of the Curve 8320 is based on its predecessors namely the 8300 and 8310. Compacted inside the 3.9 ounces, 4.2 x 2.4 x 0.6 inches body is the new improved QWERTY keyboard and a 2.5-inch 65K color screen at a 320×240 pixel resolution. Reading the contents isn’t a problem, regardless of the environmental conditions as the light sensing technology automatically adjusts the light. Navigation is done via the controls located below the screen: Talk and End buttons, Menu shortcut, Escape key and trackball navigator.
Located on the right side is the volume control and a launch button that may be redefined, although the default option was that of the camera activation. The left side of the unit is where the mini-USB port, convenience key and 3.5 millimeter headset jack are located. This jack allows any Walkman-style headphones.
The back side of the phone is where the 2-Megapixel camera and mirror are placed while the mute button is on top. The microSD slot behind the battery may be inconvenient for users. Marking one of the biggest additions in Curve 8320 is the Wi-Fi which supports 802.11b/g on any Wi-Fi hot spot. It also includes UMA, the technology that enables users to make and receive voice calls using both wireless networks and cellular networks over WiFi. Calls done in this method is non-chargeable in cellular plans, although a monthly charge of 10 can make the possibility of unlimited calls inside a Wi-Fi hotspot attainable. Users should be reminded though that UMA works only with GSM and it’s technically not VoIP as are SIP services. Call quality is not of question with UMA remained excellent.
Other connectivity options are the EDGE and Bluetooth. Bluetooth profiles supported by 8320 are wireless headsets, hands-free kits, dial-up networking and Bluetooth headsets. There are no 3G support and GPS radio. E-mail over EDGE is quick enough with 8320. It also has the same web browser with the 8300 that can also open table, Javascript and CSS. T-Mobile has a number of Instant Messaging applications that support Yahoo, AIM, Windows Live, Google Talk and BlackBerry Messenger. It still supports SMS and MMS.
8320′s multimedia capabilities include the Media Player application that can play music formats (MP3, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+ and WMA files) and video. It also includes the image viewer. The camera can only takes photos and the camera isn’t equally great as compared to the cameras of other phone models, but 8320 is at least, commendable. The bottom line, 8320 is a very promising device and many will really get excited with the addition of UMA among its features.
